My Model Horse Hobby Journey

Hello everyone!!

I realized that I have never really given the full story of how I got into the model horse hobby and where it has taken me in my photography skills and in my collection. I thought that it would be fun to share it with you!

It all started December of 2006......when I was 7 years old. 

I got my first Breyer horses. They were named Apple (the appy mare) and Spots (the foal). After the first night I had them, Spots broke his back legs and I used glue to "repair" him, which didn't work very well (I knew nothing about fixing models back then). 

In the summer of 2007 I saved and saved by hard earned money (15 dollars) and I bought the Classic dapple grey draft horse.

He didn't stand very well, so I used Play-doh to stand him up. He was eventually traded to a friend. 

I got my first Traditionals for my birthday in 2007. They were the Chubasco and Caravelle set, and I actually didn't care that much for them at first because they were bigger than my Classics and I couldn't play with them.  Caravelle was eventually broken by one of my sisters, but I still own Chubasco..a.k.a. "Paintball."

 

In October of 2012, I only had around 40 models, and only 5 Traditionals. I found MEPSA and then started showing in the Novice Division. My first photo I entered was this:

I won Reserve Grand Champion with that photo (yes, I was in the NOVICE division and I was only competing with about 4 other people who has also started out). 

I kept on working on my photography, but they were all pretty bad photos. 

But I continued to get better and better, and at the end of the MEPSA show season I had quite a few qualifications with some of my models for the championship show. 

2013

Later that year, I got multiple ribbons and prizes. I continued to collect and tried performance showing. 

We also moved from town into the country, which is mostly how my photography improved. 

Yes, I know she is in the wrong lead here. This was my first performance picture
PICTURE IS FROM 2013

 I decided to stop performance until I had good tack (I still do not....)

In my last year of Novice, I didn't do as well because all of my models were placed in the wrong class by accident (it was my numbering fault, I had no idea how I put nearly ALL of my horses in different numbered classes but oh well!)

2014 winnings

After graduating from Novice and going into Open, I only did one qualifying show. Four of my 13 horses entered places 1st-3rd out of as many as 91 models per class, so I was very pleased. But after that I just got so busy I didn't keep showing. I still have not entered in a class yet. It has been over a year now and I do miss it, but we no longer have a color printer and I just do not have the time to put into so many photos and getting my horses qualified.

Because of that, I have been doing a lot of IMEHA stuff, and my horses are doing great!! My photography has improved very much, and you can see a big difference in the photos. 

Oct. 2012

May 2015

Also, my collection has improved. From only 40 horses in 2012 to over 130 now and 36 Traditionals, I would say that the collection has grown!! :D 

2006-My first Models

November 2015-My favorite models....or as many as I could fit into the picture! 

Who is your favorite model? Do you show? What is your model horse story? If you send your story to cowgirlyssa@gmail.com I will post it on here!


~CBL

NEW HORSE!!! Meet: Cheyenne

Well, that was fast. 

Sold the mini's on Saturday, and bought our little Cheyenne today. 

I had been emailing the owner for about a week and a half  before the minis were sold asking questions about Cheyenne (her name was formerly Hope, but my family and I wanted a more Indian originated name). 

Anyway, today (even though it was my younger sister's birthday) my dad, mom, two little sisters, and I all drove an hour and half to meet Cheyenne. 

She is a barrel horse, and when I first got to the barn she stays at, I could see that her owners have her run all of the time. I asked about it and her owner said that every time they ride Cheyenne her daughter gallops her and that they have never been on a ride where they did not have her run. 

As I watched Cheyenne, I could see that when when her daughter asked her to canter, she did it, but it was obvious that she was saying "really!? I have to canter again!" As soon as I got on her and she found that she didn't have to run, she was like "Oh, this is nice. I don't have to run!" 

Can't you see Ollie in her!?

My mom rode her, and she did fantastic. Cheyenne is a 10 year old POA mare, and is 13.2....perfect size for lessons. After thinking about it for about 2 minutes, I decided (along with my mom and dad, of course) to go ahead and get her (did I ever mention i was a impulsive person?). 

For the first few weeks she is at our house, I will just do groundwork and show her that she does not have to run all over the place. I do not know exactly when she will be arriving, but sometime after the brand inspection this week or early next week.  She has a amazing mind and a kind eye. I actually see a lot of Ollie in her when I am walking her, riding her, or standing by her. I think she will have a great home here, and my dad and mom love her!

We got another horse! (well, pony actually but.....yeah).

~CBL

SOLD!!!

As you all know......

I put the mini's up for sale last week, and within just this week I got 5 people who were interested in them. I scheduled them to see the girl's, and yesterday evening the first woman interested came. I spent a total of 10 hours in the barn yesterday, with 6 of them being heavy cleaning, grooming, brushing, sweeping....etc. The barn is so tidy now you can lick off the floor....(which I wouldn't advise it..but it is true!).

Anyway, I let all of the horses out in case it could be the last few times they were together. They ran around, kicking, bucking and just having a grand time. Ollie made use of the soft dirt and rolled, then Sherman did, then Tucker..they all wanted dirt baths. 

Ugh. The annoying fact of having a white horse. 

I did more cleaning, and then it started to rain. A lot. the freshly groomed mini's got soaked and I was disappointing because I worked on them so much to get them looking nice. I just gave them another brushing and put them in the stall. 

The woman arrived, and I showed her how to tack Half Pint up, and then we drove her up the rode once. After Mrs. Richardson was comfortable, I got out and stood by the driveway while she drove back and forth a few times. Half Pint did amazing, and I was so proud of her. 

After Haffy was done, we went in to get Rosie. As Mrs. Richardson went to get her, Rosie bolted and wouldn't let her get near to put the halter on, which disappointed me because I really liked the woman. I squatted down and Rosie came walking over quickly to me. I haltered Rosie, and took her to the round pen to show Mrs. R the tricks Rosie could do. Rosie performed beautifully, and also did fantastic when Mrs. R tried them on her. Then I quickly harnessed Rosie and we took her out for a quick ground driving session. by this time it was 7:30, and about two hours after feeding time. Rosie started to act up, but I showed Mrs. R how to correct it, and then she did great. 

After we finished ground driving, Mrs. R decided that she wanted to buy them, and I couldn't be happier. She will be a great home for my little girls, we are going to do a first right of refusal, and she will try her best to update me on how they are doing. I am so happy about it, and now I am already searching for a nice small horse or large pony to take her place. 

My (or actually, Mrs. Richardson's minis) are leaving here next Saturday. It will be sad to see them go, but good because I can continue going down by journey as a horse woman.

~CBL

Horsey News

I am selling the mini's. 

Oh yeah, I am also moving to Texas. 

Woah. Wait. WHAT!? Alyssa must have gone crazy. How could she be possibly selling those little adorable 32 inches of horse. 

I am not being crazy at all. To hear the whole story though, you have to go back a few weeks to when I stumbled across one of this guy's videos:

This is Clinton Anderson. I have known about him for years, but had focused more on Pat Parelli and  the more "Natural"  side of horsemanship.  In the video above, he is using his techniques on his 19 year old Australian QH mare, Mindy. After this video, I found that he had a TV show (in HD!)  and  watched every single episode he had available. I was hooked.  I also got my mom and dad involved, and we spent almost every night for a week watching on how to fix bucking problems, fear problems, rearing problems, herd bound problems, etc. I did the work with Ollie and he has acted much differently (in a good way) ever since. 

For Mothers Day, my dad bought my  mom the whole Fundamental, Intermediate, and Advanced series of Clinton Anderson's training. In over 90 hours of video time, Clinton shows you how to get the same results he does on his horses and how he trains other people's horses. Mom cried, and I was ecstatic (about the DVD's). 

Anyway, Clinton has a training program for people too. If you are 18 or over, you can apply to his Academy. If you get accepted (only 15 people will be allowed into the Academy each year) you are professionally trained by Clinton himself for 1 1/2 years (for a Certified Clinician certification) and 3 years for a Professional Clinician. I would stay at his ranch in Texas  and work 4 horses a day. I then knew that going to his ranch and getting certified would be what I wanted to do after I graduated. After my mom and dad and I saw a  1 1/2 video of everything that happens for the 1 year and a half (which is what I would do) at his ranch, my mom and dad decided that it would be a good route for me to pursue after school. 

So..in 2-3 years I will (Lord willing) be packing my bags and going to Texas. 

Yes, Ollie has no halter on. 

Now, why would I be selling the minis??

Okay, so I need to start making more money in order to be prepared for Clinton's academy (and a little left over for misc. stuff). So, teaching horse lessons is a good option. However, I cannot do it on Ollie because he really enjoys testing people and would not be a good lesson horse. So, what I would have to do would be to sell the Minis and get a large sized pony or small horse that is very broke and kid safe.  While it is sad for me, it is time for me to move on, and the mini's aren't used as much since the big horses arrived. Both Half Pint and Rosie will go together and I hope to do a first right of refusal if the other person somewhere down the line decides to sell the Mini's.

I took Rosie's sale photos today.

BTW, here is her ad. Sadly the pictures are not working on the website, which is sort of irritating.
http://www.horseclicks.com/red-wine-and-roses/horses/801707#FiXZmw5e4rXJpCJB.97


Because Rosie and Half Pint are leaving soon, I have been spending a little more time with them, and just playing with them a little. In the pictures below some leftover runoff from the snow of Mother's Day made a temporary pond and I brought Ollie and Rosie out for some fun time in the water. They both enjoyed it.

                                                           The snow on Mother's Day. 

I will keep you updated on the Minis' status and my search for another horse! 

~CBL

My Lesson With Mrs. Tia/Canter Transitions

Happy Sunday, everybody!!

Mrs. Tia came over Friday afternoon. She showed me some awesome stuff that I needed to do, plus she tweaked some things that I was doing wrong. Sadly I didn't get any pictures of the groundwork part (it was a two hour lesson) but my mom got back home just in time to get some pictures of the riding half. Mrs.Tia thought that Ollie might have a bit problem so he went bridle-less and we just used the halter and lead rope. I didn't think he would be very respectful without his bit because he can have a VERY. HARD. MOUTH, but with the halter he was so soft and never gave me any trouble, so it makes me think that the bit really was the problem. We also used Mrs.Tia's endurance saddle because it would fit her better than my saddle. Mrs. Tia is 5'10" and the saddle I have is meant for short, small people like me....I am 5'3".

At first he tested her and was a little resistant....

..but then he realized that he wasn't about to get away with anything and straightened out quickly. 

Then I got on and Mrs. Tia instructed me from the ground. YAY!! I really wanted to get into the saddle again after being off of it for about two months except, for that one time he bucked me off a month ago. 

We worked on a lot of walk, trot, canter, halt, and back up transitions. 

 A normal transition was 7 walk steps, 15 trot steps, 3 canter steps, 15 trot steps, 7 walk steps, halt, back up, etc.

Pretty Boy

Ollie and me with my horse helmet hair. ;)

I was sooo happy after the lesson with Mrs Tia!! He was SO respectful and soft. I also got him to move his back-end (hip), and front end (shoulder) from the saddle which he has never done with me without resistance. I was overjoyed! I still am. :D 

Anyway, yesterday afternoon I set out to ride Ollie again. With a halter,which in the horse world, is a big deal, plus LOTS of trot/canter, canter/halt transitions (just because I like the canter a lot).

I did a lot of groundwork first to see where his mind was at, then hopped on (literally). I did a lot of walking, and trotting transitions before these photos..but eventually it all became trot/canter, canter/walk transitions. 

What? ME?

Portrait Shot 

He was still pretty soft, and much more respectful. I am sure the groundwork helped out a lot with that. Our relationship has improved drastically and we have bonded so much in the past month. I am so thankful I have Ollie as my horsey partner and friend and that he isn't push button. I have (and will continue) to learn from him and become a better overall horse-person.

~CBL